


A handful of ferrets

by FixaIdea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: (for harry potter), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Comedy, Crossover, Gen, Mistaken Identity, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FixaIdea/pseuds/FixaIdea
Summary: All Harry Potter wanted was one (ONE) nice family vacation, devoid of mishaps and headaches. Just one.Apparently this was too much to ask.
Relationships: Hua Cheng/Xie Lian (Tiān Guān Cì Fú)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 76





	A handful of ferrets

I still don't know how to insert links into the Notes section so. What you need to know before you go into this fic, is [this shifter AU](https://fixaidea.tumblr.com/tagged/shifter%20au) I have.

***

One would think, that something as simple as planning a vacation would not require the aid of several gallons of Felix Felicis, and yet Harry Potter was beginning to feel like he should have invested in some before setting out.

The year had 365 days and China was a huge country with countless interesting and beautiful places to visit, yet he somehow picked the exact same week AND the same hotel for their family trip as the Malfoys.

Ah well, he’ll just have to plan around them. The first day he herded his family up a nearby mountain, hoping for a calm, scenic hike. Well, who should they bump into ten minutes after setting out? The Malfoys. Because of course. By the time they returned to the hotel Harry, quite against his will and mostly courtesy of Mrs. Malfoy, already knew everything about Draco’s latest promotion and shiny new Animagus licence.

The next day he opted for a different tactic: since everyone was still sore from their excursion, he decided not to go further than the big public park right behind the hotel. He left the boys with Ginny at the first playground, and wandered off to clear his head a bit. He will not let the bastard ruin his vacation, he will not!

Something moved in the grass.

Something small and white.

Harry couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a white ferret. A white ferret, happily bouncing around on the lawn unattended, chasing a stray butterfly.

Harry saw red. It was one thing for Malfoy to make a nuisance of himself and spoil Harry’s holiday, but to go and flaunt his new licence right out in the open for all the Muggles to see? Harry would not stand for this. He stalked over and hauled the animal up by the scruff, giving it a hard shake for good measure.

‘The hell do you think you’re doing, huh?’ he hissed ‘Just because we crossed the boarder doesn’t mean the Statute of Secrecy went up in a puff of bloody smoke and ceased to exist. You know what DID though, dimwit? Daddy’s connections, it what.’ he punctuated his tirade by another shake ‘If you get caught like this, no one will bother to save your arse and you can go rot in...’

The ferret continued to hang in his hand, blinking big, shiny eyes at him, little head slightly tilted in confusion. Harry sighed. Such a slimy, unpleasant excuse for a human had no right to have such an adorable animal form.

‘Right’ he went on ‘I’m taking you back to the hotel and...’

‘How about no.’

There was a soft click right by Harry’s left ear, and a switch-blade flipped open before his throat.

‘Unhand him.’

Since his current pose didn’t allow for him to quickly reach for his wand he obediently handed the ferret over. Once the blade was lifted from his throat he whirled around to confront his attacker - a tall, red-clad man with long, wild hair and an eyepatch - but the fellow already lost interest in him. He was cradling the ferret, petting and kissing its tiny head. The animal quickly climbed up his arm and burrowed into his jacket. Once the man made sure his little friend was safe he shot one last dirty look at Harry and stalked off, muttering to himself (still in English and just loud enough for Harry to hear) about useless trash tourists who need to fuck all the way off back home.

Eye subtly twitching, Harry turned around, ready to scurry back into the hotel - and came face to face with an extremely puzzled Draco Malfoy, complete with his whole family. Not to mention Harry’s own family. It was a historical moment, in a sense: all present Malfoys and Potters united by shared sentiment and being in complete agreement: Harry Potter was out of his damn head and behaving like the most embarrassing British Tourist stereotype any lazy cartoonist could come up with.

Harry Potter himself included.

Well then. He shook himself, straightened his vest and walked off, pointedly ignoring the ‘ _this is why I can’t take you anywhere_ ’ look Ginny was giving him.

He briefly considered escaping and joining the first monastery he found, just so he never had to show his face in public again, but since the children liked the park and wanted to go back, he tried again in the afternoon.

Obviously they bumped into the Malfoys. At this point Harry wasn’t even surprised. To make matters worse, James, Scorpius and Albus almost immediately spotted something irresistibly interesting and darted off. Too tired to give proper chase, Harry trotted after them. Thankfully they did not run far, the thing that grabbed their attention turned out to be a pet fox one of the other visitors of the park was playing with. Now the boys were crutching in front of it, watching from a respectful distance after the owner gently declined their requests to pet the creature.

The owner was a short young man, clad in worn-out, all-white clothes. Harry couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but something about him felt familiar, even though he was sure he never saw him before. He had kind, bright eyes and a soft, cute smile. When Harry reached the group he was already busy listing off Cool Fox Facts, much to the delight of the children. Harry stood above them, trying not to disturb them.

The small man looked up at Harry.

Harry looked back. 

The other slowly reached for the now snarling fox and, all while holding eye contact, pulled it into his arms and clutched it to his chest.

The fox stared at Harry, pure hate clear in its single eye.

Ah.

Shifters.

So this is why the man in white felt so familiar.


End file.
